Colonialism and Imperialism: French North Africa

(1,234 words)

The position of women in colonial society in
North
Africa was ambiguous; so too was the question of gender.
European women were from the
perceived
“superior” civilization. As such they were above
North African men and women in the colonial hierarchy but below European
men. North African women were at the base of the gender pyramid.
Colonial gender frameworks were more traditional than in metropolitan
France,
making their circumvention complex. Perceptions of women and
women's agency in the colonial enterprise were als…